Virginia: Kaine Squeezes Out Victory Over Allen

Tim Kaine has emerged victorious in a heated Senate race in a closely watched swing state.

Both former governors of Virginia, Kaine and former Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) were fighting for the seat left vacant by the retirement of Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.), who defeated Allen six years ago.

With 89 percent of precincts reporting, Kaine had 50.7 percent to 49.3 percent for Allen.

Allen just conceded the race to Kaine.

The former chairman of the Democratic National Committee held on to a narrow lead over his GOP challenger in the most recent polling this week.

The showdown was a test between blue and red in a state that’s turned purple since 2008, when President Obama won the state along with Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), another former governor.

UPDATE: “I’ve called Tim and congratulated him. We mentioned how we do have different views, different ideas,” Allen said in a speech to supporters. “We tried to wage this campaign on ideas and issues and reforms, and we feel that would be best for Virginia and America. We’ll still remain friends personally and that’s important for people to understand.”

Bridget Johnson is a veteran journalist whose news articles and opinion columns have run in dozens of news outlets across the globe. Bridget first came to Washington to be online editor at The Hill, where she wrote The World from The Hill column on foreign policy. Previously she was an opinion writer and editorial board member at the Rocky Mountain News and nation/world news columnist at the Los Angeles Daily News.
She is an NPR contributor and has contributed to USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, National Review Online, Politico and more, and has myriad television and radio credits as a commentator. Bridget is Washington Editor for PJ Media.